All Tangled Up
by Screamin-Whispers
Summary: Life seems to be moving smoothly for Ponyo and Sosuke, but when they start secondary school they are in for a bumpy and dangerous ride!
1. Introduction

They say love knows no bounds, and for Ponyo and Sosuke it must be true. A fish girl, the daughter of the great sea spirit Granmammare, and a five year old boy who lives by the sea have nothing in common, do they? But love finds a way, and Ponyo and Sosuke find happiness. Ponyo gives up her magic for Sosuke, becomes a human girl so they can be together. Little does she know that if Sosuke falls out of love with her she'll turn into sea foam. But Sosuke seems to have no intention of giving his love to anyone but Ponyo as they grow up, spending nearly their entire lives side by side.

They go to the same schools, take the same classes, play out in the sea together, but never do they tire of each others company. As the years pass, however, and he two enter in secondary school at the ages of thirteen, jealousy flies behind their backs and rumors are spread like wild fire. _Ponyo and Sosuke live in the same house_ they say, _You know what that means! _Striking young Sosuke and lovely Ponyo live on in ignorance.

The truth is, everyone is jealous of Sosuke and Ponyo's perfect love. They don't know that if Sosuke relinquishes that love Ponyo would be gone forever either. It seems that no one knows. Well, apart from Fujimoto, who still visits to check in on his daughter occasionally. He worries all the time that Sosuke will turn his darling daughter into sea foam, no matter how much Granmammare reassures him that all will be alright. Finally Fujimoto cracks and decides to take a job as the swimming coach at the high school in disguise. He leaves the running of the ocean to his daughters, who are all grown up now, nearly as beautiful as their mother and Ponyo.

Secondary school brings new troubles for Ponyo and Sosuke, from the cruel rumors and Fujimoto's eccentric spying to Sosuke troubled feelings and Ponyo's new human experiences. And there is an unexpected danger lurking the halls, one that could mean the end for Ponyo and Sosuke too!


	2. Happy Birhtday!

It was early morning, and the sun was merely peeping from the watery horizon when Sosuke woke. He tumbled from bed, his tall thin frame bending to catch himself before he hit the ground. He paused for a moment, hoping that no one heard the muffled thump of him hitting the floor. After a few seconds, because all was still, he silently pulled himself to his feet and shook his blankets off. He glanced in the mirror as he walked by soundlessly on tanned bare feet, running his fingers through his dark locks once to smooth them and get them all in the right place and out of his face.

Today was a special day, and Sosuke wanted to surprise Ponyo by getting everything set up before she woke. But that would mean that he had to be absolutely silent. Sosuke smiled. This would be the best!

Sosuke gently left the house, shutting the door gently behind him, and hurried down the path to the ocean. He found all the things for the party that he had hidden in the rocks on the tiny beach, marked by a green plastic bucket. A very special green plastic bucket. He dragged out a table and four folded chairs from the tall grasses that grew in abundance near the shore and set them up, just out of the reach of the ocean water that lapped the sand playfully.

Sosuke set everything up diligently and by the time he was done the sun was just clearing the horizon, lighting the world with a warm glow and stretching shadows as far as it could. Satisfied with his efforts, Sosuke quickly raced up the winding path up to the house and slipped back inside.

He checked the clock in passing, smiling when he saw it was only six-thirty. He had been swift and silent. Sosuke struck a pose like a ninja, but in doing so knocked the clock of the table. It made a loud bang as it hit the floor, the back casing popping off and the batteries rolling away like tiny fish swimming swiftly out of the way of a shark. Sosuke ducked down to pick up the clock, and when he straightened again there were three faces peering out of doorways at him.

"Are you alright?" Lisa, Sosuke's mother asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew what was going on, and when Sosuke nodded she and Koichi, Sosuke's father, retreated back around the door frame.

"What are you doing Sosuke?" Ponyo asked, her head cocked to one side, her fiery red curls messy from the way she had been sleeping. She was wearing sleep shorts and an old t-shirt as she always did to bed, and she was looking rather rumpled.

"I'll show you after you get dressed." Sosuke promised. He looked down at himself. He needed to get dressed too. He had worn a shirt to bed so he wouldn't have to take time to find one in the morning, and he was looking just as rumpled as Ponyo. "And me too."

Minutes later, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and shorts, Sosuke was opening to door to go outside and wait for Ponyo. He got a big surprise when she grabbed his shoulders from behind and kissed his ear.

"Hi sunshine." Ponyo said, wrapping her arms around Sosuke's shoulders and burying her face in his neck. When she let go he turned around in the door frame to hug her back. "I want to know what you were doing out on the beach this morning." She demanded, pulling away.

Sosuke looked at her, surprised. How did she know? She looked sweetly innocent in a pale blue sun dress that fell to her knees, but somehow older too. Maybe it was the glimmer of knowledge in her eye. "How-?" He asked, but she cut him off.

"Well, for one thing, you smell like sea spray, and for a second you left footprints." Ponyo said with a mischievous grin, pointing at the trail of faint footprints Sosuke had left in the sandy soil.

"Oh, I thought you were becoming magical again." Sosuke said with a strained little laugh. He knew that if she got her magic back, the transition back into a fish would be not too far behind. The thought of that happening scared Sosuke immensely.

"Stop worrying, silly head, and show me what you were doing on the beach early this morning." Ponyo urged, poking Sosuke's back to get him to move.

"Alright, alright, I'll show you, impatient pants." Sosuke said, starting to walk down the steep slope towards his surprise for Ponyo.

"I'm not wearing pants, I'm wearing a dress!" Ponyo reminded him, prodding his back again teasingly, a grin on her face. She was excited. She knew Sosuke was up to something, and she was about to find out.

"Oh, Sosuke!" Ponyo said, putting a hand to her mouth. "You're so sweet!" She hugged Sosuke again, who grinned.

"Happy birthday Ponyo!" He said, hugging her back.

Sosuke had made all of Ponyo's favorite foods, especially ham, and bought a big cake decorated with an underwater scene. Lisa and Koichi descended from the house a few seconds after, grinning in amazement at the effort their son had put out for Ponyo.

A rollicking little party ensured, and soon Fujimoto and Ponyo's sisters broke the surface to join in. Even Granmammare stopped by to wish her sweet daughter a healthful year of existence before continuing on to visit the site of an oil spill so she could fix it.

Hours later, all the food eaten and gifts opened, the mess was cleaned up and the beach was empty. Well, almost empty. Sosuke and Ponyo were sitting side by side, feet buried in the sand, watching the waves. Ponyo leaned her head on Sosuke's shoulder and sighed quietly. She wished that every day would be like this. But it couldn't, she knew. They had school again the next day, a Monday, and Ponyo had come to dislike school. Too many rules and too much sitting still. Only Sosuke made it better.


	3. School yet again

"Ponyo, Sosuke, wake up!" Lisa called from the kitchen, glancing at the clock. It was almost time for school to start. Hopefully they wouldn't be late. Sosuke had been exhausted last night after waking up so early to set up Ponyo's surprise party, and was dead on his feet by the time bedtime rolled around. Ponyo, on the other hand, was still a big ball of pent up energy like always. Lisa wondered where the slight girl had room to store it all. "You're going to be late to school!" She called when no one replied to her first call.

A few seconds later a sleepy face peeped around the doorframe. It was Sosuke, his hair a mess and his eyes still half closed. He looked at her for a moment before nodding slightly and turning around to go back in his room, shutting the door behind him. Ponyo was next. She bounced into the room wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. She grabbed her lunch from the counter and her bookbag from the couch before giving Lisa a big hug. Her unruly red hair was like a cloud and Lisa couldn't tell if it had been brushed. Ponyo forgot to do things like brushing her hair sometimes, even though it had been nine years now since she had turned into a human.

"Grab a hair brush and let me brush your hair, sweet." She said, returning the hug. She watched Ponyo nod and bound back to her room, passing a sluggish Sosuke who was dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans. He gave Lisa a hug too, before grabbing his things. By this time Ponyo was already back, handing Lisa a hair brush.

"I did brush my hair this morning, honest. It just doesn't like staying flat." She said, turning and allowing Lisa to pull the brush through her hair. It took a few minutes and a bit of pulling, but soon Ponyo's hair was smooth. It fell in gentle curls down her back, neat and tidy for the time being. Lisa laughed, grabbing Sosuke and Ponyo's breakfasts from the counter.

"Sorry, there wasn't much left in the fridge, so you two will have to make do with sandwiches for breakfast." Lisa said, handing both adolescents sandwiches wrapped in foil. "Eat in the car, or we'll be late." She herded the two of them out to the car, calling out to her husband as she did, "Bye Honey, I'll be home late tonight, I have to stop by the grocery store after work."

When everyone was settled in the car, Ponyo unwrapped her breakfast. "Ham!" She said excitedly, peeking between the slices of bread. She still loved ham, the first human food she had ever eaten. Lisa chuckled as Ponyo gobbled down the sandwich in a matter of seconds. She licked her fingers when she was done, and leaned closer to Sosuke. "Hey, are you gonna eat that?" She asked, eyeing his sandwich, which he had just started unwrapping.

"You can have the ham." Sosuke said, dismantling the sandwich and giving Ponyo the meat. He was used to giving up things like that for Ponyo, she required a great deal of maintenance. He ate his cheese and lettuce sandwich slowly, looking out the window and not saying anything. He was very tired after waking up hours earlier than he usually would on a Sunday for Ponyo, then having to get up early again the next day for school.

Ponyo was chattering aimlessly, telling the other two occupants of the car about a fish she had seen the other day, and a shell she had found, and too many other things that Sosuke couldn't keep track of. He'd learned that Ponyo didn't really need anyone to listen to the things she said, she just needed to say them and get the words out of her system.

Sosuke and Ponyo made it to school with mere seconds to spare. They had just made it to homeroom when the late bell rang. Gasping and panting the two took the last empty seats, Sosuke the one in the front and Ponyo one three rows behind Sosuke. Ponyo ran her hands through her unruly red hair a few times, trying to get it to lay flat, and Sosuke leaned back, trying to catch his breath. The gentle hum of adolescents talking was making his eyelids droop, but he was saved from falling asleep by the boy behind him.

"Sosuke, wake up, Ms. Sumire is coming." The boy said, poking Sosuke in the shoulder. The boy had bright green eyes, auburn-red hair, and an excessive spattering of freckles on his face, neck and arms. He was wearing a red t-shirt that clashed with his hair, but he didn't seem to mind that he had made a fashion error.

"Thanks Yori." Sosuke said, straightening and blinking tiredness from his eyes as the teacher burst through the door. She was a severe looking woman with honey-blonde hair wrapped in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, a white blouse and a grey jacket with a matching pencil skirt. He icy blue eyes scanned the class as she sat down at her desk.

"Good morning class." She said in her strange accent. She was from England, so her Japanese didn't sound right. All heads turned towards her, and everyone straightened in their seat. Her actual name was Ms. Violet, the English equivalent of Ms. Sumire.

"Good morning." We all coursed back. The usual start to a usual day. Then we all stood and Ms. Sumire called roll and we preformed all our other morning rituals. No one expected anything different than the usual trudging from class to class, attempting to stay awake and trying vainly to take notes.

When the bell rang, everyone stood and started trudging to the door. Kumiko through the group to get to Sosuke, smoothing her dress and her hair as she did so. "Hi Sosuke." She said, reaching out to touch his upper arm.

"Hi Kumiko." Sosuke said over his shoulder, more intent on finding Ponyo that talking to his one time friend. This made Kumiko frown. She did not like being ignored. Especially by this boy.

"My birthday party is tomorrow after school and I was wondering if you'd like to come?" She asked, smoothing her dress again. Sosuke paused for a second in looking at Ponyo to stare at Kumiko. He hadn't been invited to one of her birthday parties since kindergarten. What was with the sudden change?

"Sure." He said, slightly confused. Kumiko smiled largely and skipped off to her next class, her bookbag swinging at her side. Sosuke watched her go, the confused look still on his face. Ponyo finally managed to get through the crowd of people trudging to their next class to stand next to Sosuke.

"What was that about?" She asked him, tipping her head to one side.


End file.
